


Resonant Frequency

by Aurorealis



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Adoption, Childhood, Gen, Mass Effect Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-07 04:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3161201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurorealis/pseuds/Aurorealis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Legion was created early to make peaceful negotiations with the organic races. When their attempt to make contact with a single, isolated alliance vessel goes extremely wrong, they are left with one Jane Shepard. A five year old Shepard that wasn't actually supposed to be on that ship. </p><p>The Geth thought organics were illogical enough as adults. They were not prepared for a child. </p><p>Or, the one where Legion adopts Shepard, which really means almost the entire Geth race adopts Shepard</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day Negative

**Author's Note:**

> kmeme prompt here: http://masseffectkink.livejournal.com/8618.html?thread=42025642#t42025642
> 
> basically, they asked for shep to be raised by non-humans, and I thought, in the depths of my mind, "hey, Geth aren't humans!" because I'm a turd and once I imagined the prompt this way I couldn't un-imagine it. I mean, yeah it totally does fit the prompt but I know OP probably wasn't thinking of Geth as an option. Judge is still out on whether they're okay with it
> 
> Also, for the record, this isn't a reaper-less AU unless I go back and change the details. I probably intend to go massively (lol) canon divergent though. At the same time though, think of how much more angsty the destroy option would be

“But mom, you said it was only going to be a routine run!” Jane pouted, drawing the word 'mom' into a whine. Life was never fair.

“Sweetie, I know. But it's still an alliance thing. And I think you still have, what, fifteen years to go before you're old enough for that.” Mom ruffled Jane's hair. That only made Jane grumble and duck, looking back to the super cool ship (that was apparently super off limits). And then she paused.

“Hey, I only have thirteen years left! And a half!” Mom only laughed at Jane's outburst. To Jane's consternation, the surrounding alliance soldiers were just as amused- maybe more so.

“Aw hell, Hannah. Let the kid come if she wants to so bad. Fu-” Mom gave the man a sharp glare. “er.. HECK knows how boring the station is.” Jane grinned. It was Mr. Pearsin, she could always count on him to stand up for her. Mom however, just looked annoyed at the team-up.

“You know it's against regulations.” She sighed. “Plus, I took Jane out the last time we had this assignment, and I don't want to make a habit of it. Besides, wasn't it boring, Jane?” 

Jane wrinkled her nose. “Nope, it was awesome!” Mom shot Jane another one of her looks, but Jane didn't care. “I got to talk to everyone, and see the relays, and Mr. Pearsin let me sit in the pilot's chair!” And she bet he would let her again. As soon as mom let her come, which she totally should since Mr. Pearsin said it was safe. Besides, she got to go last time, right?

Mom sighed again. “I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that.” Mr. Pearsin laughed at her face. Jane joined in too, turning on her doe eyes. “If I take you, will I be hearing any complaints from Hessler? Or Yin?”

Jane scowled slightly at the names, but shook her head. Ms. Yin and Mr. Hessler were both extremely grouchy and strict. They never let her have any fun. After all, why did they make long hallways with smooth floors in ships if they didn't want people sliding down them? But if it was a choice between staying out of their hair, or staying at the space station, Jane knew her priorities. “Fine, then. Just remember to stay out of the way, alright Jane?” Jane knew to just nod solemnly at the lecture by now.

“Well, now that's dealt with, want to ship out, brat?” Mr. Pearsin gestured towards the hatch and Jane perked up. She scooted in, just managing to dodge Ms. Yin, who immediately started yelling. 

“Shepard, you can not keep bringing your spawn aboard! This is an official alliance scouting mission!” 

Jane skidded to a stop, contemplating whether to stay for the drama. Ms. Yin really didn't like Mom. “Look, Yin. I know rules are rules, but you and I both know this is a shit job. We're just skirting the Perseus veil.”

“Yes, to check for Geth! You know, the murder bots?” Jane made a face at Ms. Yin from behind her. Mr. Pearsin saw and covered his mouth to hide a smile. Mom only narrowed her eyes. Well, at least someone appreciated Jane's humour. 

“The Geth never leave the veil, you know that. We're only doing this because the Citadel still has it in for humans. They keep giving us the boring job. There haven't been any Geth in any of the scouting checks.” 

Ms. Yin paused, and Jane just knew she was making that mean, pinched expression of hers. Jane just knew the stodgy old lady was jealous of Mom's higher rank. “You're lucky I don't report you for this.”

“I appreciate it.” Mom smiled as if the argument hadn't happened.


	2. Day 0

As cool as space ships were, Jane had gotten a little bored midway through. Which was why she had immediately perked up when Mr. Hessler of all people had run up to her. He had it in for her probably worse than Ms. Yin did. “Jane, your mother has asked me to bring you to hide you.”

“Hide!?” Jane was excited. Why would she have to hide? Were they actually going to fight Geth? 

“Yes. I'm hiding you in Pearsin's room. There you will be quite, stay still, and not bring any attentiion to yourself.” He grabbed her wrist, not too roughly but certainly not gently. 

“Oww, hey! I don't want to hide, I want to see you shoot Geth!” Instead of making a comment about her being a pest like he usually would, Mr. Hessler squared his shoulders and walked faster. With her wrist captured, Jane had no choice but to follow. “What, it's not Geth?” Jane assumed he was thinking she was too dumb to respond to, or something. “Is it Batarians?” 

Mr. Hessler exhaled loudly. “It doesn't make any difference to you. All you need to worry about is staying quiet.” His tone made Jane pause. He sounded scared. “You will stay quiet because if this all goes south, you do not want to be found. It would not be fun.” They reached the crew's quarters in record time. 

Mr. Hessler opened Mr. Pearsin's door- one of the few crew members to have his own room. “Wait a second, how come I'm not hiding in Mom's room?” 

“Because, if the place gets overrun, they'll check the second in command's before the pilot's. Now, enought questions.” He gestured impatiently. Jane, not seeing any easy way out, complied. The door was shut solidly behind her. Jane heard him say something to the comm system- it was too muffled through the door. And then, the door beeped and locked. 

“H-hey!” For some reason, being locked in made Jane more frightened than the strong possibility of bad guys. But Mr. Hessler was already too far away, or maybe he just ignored her. It was just silent. “They'll be fine.” Jane nodded to herself. “Mom'll beat them. She wrestled a Krogan once.” Or at least Mom insisted she had, even after Jane said it was impossible.

So, carefully, Jane sat down to wait. She waited until it had felt like hours. Then she waited some more, because Mom always told her she needed to be more patient. Jane wished she had an omnitool to pass the time, or even to check it. Mom said she wasn't old enough for one yet. 

Jane had been in Mr. Pearsin's room a few times before, to see his models. When her restlessness beat the urge to behave, she got up to look at them. It was one of the only rules Mr. Pearsin really had, that she wasn't allowed to touch them without him being there, that they cost a lot and weren't toys. But he wasn't here, he was probably up at the flight controls, about to dodge around and shoot whoever the bad guys were. Jane secretly hoped they were Geth though, Batarians were way scarier. 

Still, Jane was careful, knowing how important the figures were as she plucked the smallest model ship off the shelf. She just wanted to look! Jane's looking eventually involved taking each of the ships down and investigating their every nook and cranny. Still, Jane figured she deserved some congratulations for not dropping or breaking a single piece, even the one that had a wing piece already loose.

And then, Jane heard faint gun shots. She heard lot's of them, all muffled to near silence but still unmistakable. Jane froze, all notions of excitement and annoyance at being stuck gone. They were replaced with a sharp fear. Mom was strong, she'll protect me, Jane tried to say aloud, but sheer panic kept her jaw clamped. The shooting continued. It was the crew shooting, it had to be. The bad guys got into the ship, but it was a trap so they could get taken out. Obviously.

It didn't stop Jane from putting the models back as quickly as she could and diving under the bed covers. Jane spread her limbs carefully, bunching the blanket so that it laid over her in such a way that it didn't look like it was hiding her. Jane had perfected this, and actually fooled Mom with it once. And the bad guys definitely had to be stupider than Mom. 

Plus, under the blanket, Jane couldn't hear the shooting anymore. She could pretend it had stopped and that Mom and the others were just cleaning up.

That was, until Jane heard a much louder noise. The door beeped ominously. Jane held her breath. There was no way it wasn't one of the crew coming to check on her. But all the same, Jane was frozen as the door swooshed open. And a grinding, mechanical voice spoke.

“Heat source detected. We request surrender of arms.” It was like ice had been poured down her back. Jane squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry or breathe. The thing- Geth, perhaps? Jane was too scared to think on it- started making strange clipping, almost chirping sounds. Almost like a broken comm unit. Then there was a pause. “Confirmation, you are the last functional organic. We request surrender.” 

Jane couldn't stop her sob, though she tried muffling it with her mouth. And once she had done that, she couldn't stop crying. She tried to stay quiet, and tried to not move, but it was useless. The voice spoke again. “Registered- human sounds of distress. We conclude you are not a soldier. Weapons unlikely but non-zero. We request removal of coverings.” 

Jane couldn't have taken off the covers even if she had wanted to. She was stuck in place, sobbing with hands over her mouth. The blanket was her only protection. It was the only thing between her and the thing- the thing that said she was the only one left. 

The protection was suddenly removed. Jane refused to open her eyes. If she couldn't see them, maybe they wouldn't be able to see her. The thing whirred and clicked. “We were not expecting a child. Non-Alliance personnel not allowed on Alliance missions. Alliance recruitment restricted to humans eighteen earth years or older. We request designation.”

At the pause, Jane finally squinted her eyes open slightly. It wasn't killing her yet. She couldn't see the thing until she turned her head slowly, slightly, towards the sound of its voice. All she could make out was the flashlight of it's head, staring directly at her, not just at the door but extremely close. Jane gasped, pushing back. Her foot scrabbled against cold, hard metal. Her back hit the floor as she pitched off the opposite side of the bed. Jane didn't care- she just wanted to get away. But all she could do was push herself into the corner. And then she said her first words to what had to be Geth. “Go away! Don't hurt me!” 

The Geth hadn't moved in Jane's struggles, merely flickering the metal panels around it's 'eye'. “We do not plan to leave the premises. However, we do not plan to harm you. Our plan was to communicate. It has failed.” 

Jane stared at the Geth. She was still scared, dreadfully so. But it continued to not hurt her. Jane gulped, wiping her tears but still keeping both eyes on the Geth. “W-what failed?” 

For some reason, the Geth answered her question. “Our plan was to communicate with organics. We sent a false distress signal to isolate this scouting ship. We knew an outright communication would cause a massive response attack from the citadel. However, a single isolated ship would have no fighting advantage, raising the chances of being open for communication.” Its eye panels flickered again, almost apologetically. “Your humans fought despite the tactical disadvantages. Our response was defensive, but extreme. We failed to predict the illogical actions of organics.” 

Jane felt her tears start again. It all sounded complicated, a lot of big words strung together to confusee her. But Jane could at least understand one thing. “You guys tricked us!” Jane trembled. The Geth were killer-robots, even she knew they almost killed off the Quarians. Jane had learned that in kindergarten. The Geth paused, making that mechanical clipping noise again. Jane had also learned that the Geth were dumb, and couldn't talk. But this one could. 

“We deceived for the goal of mutual cooperation. We knew organics would be illogical, but believed that there would be a net positive end result.”

Jane didn't understand it. She was frightened and alone, and the voice was hard to even hear properly. The only thing that stopped her from breaking down was the fact that she had already done that. Instead, Jane ignored the overly complicated synthetic speech.“What are you gonna do to me?” She wanted to go home. But this was a Geth, and they were bad guys. 

“We must reach consensus. You are the only functioning organic, and the only non hostile. You are also a child. Organic youth of your development level do not possess the experience or mental faculties to act as diplomats. Possibly not to fully understand our words.”

“I-I'm not stupid!” Jane blurted out before she could help it, immediately clamming up again. 

“Acknowledged.” The Geth clicked again, and other clicks responded. “Consensus reached. We can not arrange your return or allow discovery of this failure for risk of widespread retaliation. Your death would be counter-productive to our goal of cooperating with organics to oppose old machines. Organics highly value children and opinion of their own kind.” 

Jane stared blankly at the Geth, trying to listen to its choppy voice. It didn't want to kill her, that was good. But it didn't want to take her home, either? “Best viable option is to nurture the remaining organic, have you understand the Geth and act as diplomat when you have matured.” It's eye lens appeared to focus. “What is your platform's construction date?” 

Jane had no idea what to say. “Umm..”

“You do not recognize our terminology. Rephrasing query: How old are you?” 

“.. Five. And a half.” Jane sniffed, wiping her nose. There was only so much terror she could take. She wanted to go home and sleep. She wanted to wake up tomorrow so Mom could make her breakfast.

“Acknowledged.” It paused for only a half second. “Organics place great emphasis on given designations. What is your name?” 

Jane at least understood the last bit. “I'm Jane Shepard.” Hesitantly, she inched slightly from the wall, slightly curious even despite the fear. “What's yours?” 

“We are Geth.” It's eye panels lifted in what felt like a shrug. “However, we understand organics need for designation, given their permanent attachment to single platforms. We have chosen several based on different species mythology and religion for this platform, meant to act as the main point of communication. From Humanity, we have chosen the name Legion.”

“So... your name is Legion?” Jane crossed her arms hesitantly, but for some reason didn't feel the same need to plaster herself to the wall. The Geth had been nothing but calm, and hadn't made a single move towards her this entire time. 

“In your understanding, yes. In terms you can comprehend, we will be taking care of you because you can not go home.” It reached its hand out slightly. Immediately Jane pressed herself against the wall again. 

“W-why can't you take me home? Don't touch me!” 

“We can not take you home because it is not safe for us. This movement was meant to be friendly. Your people shake hands.” 

“I know what a handshake is!” She just didn't want to give it to the Geth. She didn't want anything to do with the Geth. But it was still standing there, not attacking, not moving forward. Its hand still outstretched. 

It was minutes that Jane stood there, the Geth not speaking or moving before she finally acted. Slowly, very slowly, she crept closer to the Geth before barely touching its hand in a slight handshake. The Geth did not push for more, only moving its hand in response to the shake without returning the slight grip. It didn't grab her hand and squeeze it, or pull out its gun like Jane was afraid.

Since it still wasn't attacking her, Jane looked up cautiously. Its head light shone brightly as it loomed over her. “...Hello, Legion.” She tried to use the name it gave.

“Hello, Jane Shepard.”


	3. Week 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note: Pake (pronounced Pawka)=grandfather, Beppe (pronounced Beppa)=grandmother. I couldn't resist since that's what I called my grandparents, who were from Friesland. It's still default looking shep, by the way, this is just a self indulgent extraneous detail

Two weeks after encounter:

Jane Shepard twisted and turned in her bed. She couldn't sleep. Legion had been surprisingly nice for a killer-bot, but she still couldn't understand why she couldn't go home. “It is unsafe”, Legion would reply. Jane didn't care if it was unsafe, she wanted to go home and see Mom again. After all, if she was the lat one here, the Mom must be back home, right?

To that, Legion just replied, “Hannah Shepard is nonfunctional. Organics call it death, or passing away.” 

Jane just didn't get it. Mom had told her that when animals or people die, it meant that they went away and didn't come back. They left their body so you couldn't wake them up or talk to them. Mom said it had happened to Dad. Mom also said that was why Jane had a Beppe but not a Pake. 

Jane supposed she would just have to wait until Mom showed up again to get her. Slowly slipping out of the bed, Jane padded to the door. She was staying in Mom's room of the ship, and hadn't wandered around much, unlike her usual self. But today, Jane wanted to do something. Thinking of Mom and Beppe just made her frustrated. 

The door was unlocked, just like it had been the few other times she had left. Unlike the other times, Legion was not just across the hall to watch and follow her and tell her when she couldn't go someplaces.

He had even stopped Jane from going up to the bridge earlier, saying something about cleaning and psycho.. psych-something damage. Probably something about how she was stupid. Mr, Hessler talked in big words like that too, then scoffed and rolled his eyes at her when Jane couldn't answer. Jane wondered if he might be able to understand Legion any better than she could. 

Jane wandered. The ship was as empty as Legion kept insisting. She was used to ships and stations, but she had never actually been alone. It was almost kind of fun, though she still wanted Mom to come back. In the meantime though, there was no one to stop her from running down the hall and sliding on her socks.

Except for, of course, her balance. Jane leaned too far forward and crashed onto the floor. Immediately, tears welled up as she let out a cry. Her knee hurt. Within minutes Jane heard a clanking as Legion ran from somewhere in the ship. She didn't know he could run. 

“Jane Shepard.” Legion greeted. “Have you sustained injuries?” Jane just cried louder, calling for Mom. Legion's flaps lifted. “ Hannah Shepard is not alive. We can not retrieve her.”

“I don't care! I want Mom!” 

Slowly, Legion knelt down to Jane's level. “ Our research of extranet transmission explains that humans of your development are unable to fully comprehend death and mortality. This is illogical, that organic beings perceive basic emotions before expiration. Another example of the imperfections of evolution.” Jane wasn't even trying to listen to Legion- he may as well have been spouting gibberish. What she did pay attention to was the three fingered metal hand very gradually coming closer to her red knee. “Research detailed to allow you time to process the data while being truthful. In this case, Hannah Shepard is not required, nor is medical treatment. Your pain is minimal, and should lessen.” 

Gently, Legion touched the sore knee. Jane let him, though she flinched back at the temperature. “You're cold!” 

“Geth do not require the same level of temperature as organics.” Jane ignored Legion. He talked a lot. Mom told her that people who talked a lot usually had the least to say, and since Jane only rarely understood Legion anyways, this was probably the case for him. Plus, her knee didn't really hurt that bad anymore. Jane stood back up quickly. So quickly, that she saw something out of the small bay window. 

Jane dashed over to it immediately, Legion following seamlessly. She had to stand on her tip-toes to get a better peek. “Windows are structural weaknesses-” Legion started, but Jane shushed him. “That vocal response is not a translatable word. Scanning for meaning.”

“Shush means be quiet!” Jane snapped. 

“Acknowledged.” Jane shushed him louder. She looked back to the window, and saw it. A planet. Jane didn't know which one, only that it probably wasn't Earth because she knew what Earth looked like. But that didn't matter. A planet meant civilization, and other space stations. 

“Oh! You're taking me back now?” Jane grinned. Only to frown as Legion leaned in beside her without responding right away. 

“Negative. This planet does not contain organic settlements or outposts. It is called Rannoch, the home of Geth and the Creators.” Jane felt an urge to start a tantrum, like she'd done several times already on the subject of going home. So far, Legion had not gotten her into trouble for it, instead backing off until she calmed down. In this case though, she was more intrigued by the planet.

“I never heard of it. Who're the Creators?” Now that she squinted, Jane could see what looked like another ship or perhaps a station at the peripherals of the window. 

“They call themselves Quarians.”

Jane made a sound of realization. “Oh. Because they made you?”

“Affirmative.”

Jane stared at the planet some more. “It's pretty.” Jane hadn't spent all that much time on actual planets, but each time she had it had been super fun. On planets, everything seemed brighter and fuller. “Are we landing?” 

“We are preparing a space for you to reside in. Samples of food capable of human digestion are being tracked down to be cultivated in an isolated plot for your sustenance. Additionally, a living area based on extranet research and this ship is being added to one of our main orbital servers.” 

Jane stared. Legion stared back. “...Are we landing?” she repeated. 

“As soon as accommodations are made.” Jane stared at Legion some more. “Soon, yes.” Legion finally reworded. Jane grinned.


	4. One year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently Shepard didn't know how to keep her mouth shut even when she was 6 (and a half)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really want to get to a point in the story where Shepard can say to another organic "no data available" and have no idea why they're looking at her funny.
> 
> and again, since it's mentioned once: Beppe = grandmother

1 year after Encounter

“Ow!” Jane gasped as she face planted into the dirt. She had to get away, and she only had so much time. Jane scrambled to her feet and started sprinting again. 

“Resistance is futile.” Legion droned from behind her. Jane snorted. No way was he getting a hold of her! Jane scrambled up a long slab of rock, using it as a launchpad over the uneven ground. “Please desist. You are in increasing danger of injury.” 

Jane just ran faster. “I'm not taking a bath and you can't make me!” She turned her head so that she could stick her tongue out, directly in Legion's face. And in that moment of inattention, Jane felt her foot snag under a clump of low lying bush. Her knee crashed right into a sharp rock, bringing involuntary tears to her eyes. 

Immediately, Jane grabbed at the stinging appendage with a sob. “We do not understand your insistence. The process of decontamination is painless, and has a shorter duration than your struggles.” Legion was at her side in an instant, somehow looking genuinely confused. “Why do you run until you are hurt over something so trivial?”

Jane turned away from Legion. Somehow, his head beam seemed reproachful. “You're not my Mom”, she huffed. That was usually enough to get most adults annoyed. But instead, Legion pulled out a small dollop of medigel, applying it carefully. By now, Legion knew exactly what pressure to use. Jane was not the type to avoid injury. 

Without warning, Legion scooped Jane off of the ground. “Wha-hey! Lemme go!” 

“Negative. You must still be decontaminated. Releasing you would be... inefficient.” 

Jane groaned loudly. “But I hate baths! Come on, I don't need 'em!” 

“Negative. It is true that Rannoch has a low number of native micro-organisms harmful to your body, however a buildup of soil and dead skin is harmful over time.” Jane groaned again. Legion and his long words. 

“What's a micro-thing?” She asked, hoping to derail the whole bath thing. It was a long shot though, since Legion hadn't stopped or slowed in his purposeful walking.

“A microorganism is an organism that is microscopic, usually containing a single cell.” Jane scrunched her nose until Legion amended, “In your vocabulary, a living being that is very small.”

Jane's eyes lit up. “Oh, cool! How small?”

Legion whirred for a moment, silent. “Microorganisms vary greatly in size, however all are much too small for human eyes to see.” Jane let out a giggle despite herself.

“You don't sound weird this time.” 

Legion paused again, most likely trying to decipher her meaning. “We typically speak in vocabulary most fitting to the subject and for adult comprehension. However, we acknowledge that this is... not helpful when giving an explanation.” 

“Oh. Why do you sound weird the rest of the time, then? Like right there?” Jane knew what 'acknowledge', and 'affirmative' and 'vocabulary', but a lot of what Legion said still went right over her head. 

“Simple. Organics learn through exposure. Children are in a constant state of knowledge absorption. It is logical to instruct you in language through example.” Jane shifted to glance at Legion again. His face was impossible to read, as always. But as usual, after a moment of silence that stretched on only slightly too long, Legion understood. “By speaking...weirdly... we are teaching you.” 

“Oh!”, That, Jane did understand. “Like school? I was in kindergarten, befor- before..” Jane fell silent. She didn't think too much about before, it seemed like ages ago. But she still missed Mom, and Mr. Pearsin the pilot. She missed getting to see Beppe, too. 

“Schools are gatherings where mature organics teach groups of youth the data they require to succeed in adulthood. You lived in military space stations, with few other children.” Legion shifted his top panels in some approximation of a raised brow. “How did you attend school?” 

Jane frowned. “Um, vid calls? Duh!” But then she smiled at Legion's obvious surprise. He froze in that way that meant he was talking to other Geth. Jane could never hear it, but she could sometimes tell. 

“We underestimated organics. We deduced that separation would mean a failure to attend school. Education must be a higher priority than we were aware. We must reach a new consensus.” At that, Legion did stop walking, his legs freezing in place. His light dimmed. Jane wiggled- whenever Legion said “consensus” it always meant that he was out for a bit. This was her chance to escape. It was too bad that Jane was still stuck in Legion's arms, which seemed rather high from the ground right now.

It didn't matter anyways, since Legion's light brightened again only a second later. “Consensus achieved. We will begin scanning for transmissions of human school teachings and formulate a curriculum. We will continue teaching with this platform however, as contact with organics is not viable.”

As a hint of dread settled in, Jane realized she had made a big mistake. “We have reached the decontamination vessel.” Jane turned just in time to watch herself splash into warm bathwater.

“Aw, come on!”


End file.
